Of Night and Day

North House

There was a knock at my door, sharp and strong. I looked at the clock beside the bed and realized it was almost dinner time.

I moved away from the desk where I was starting to sort through my class materials and answered the door.

Standing on the opposite side was Fennix, he was dressed casually with a large smile on his face. "There you are, Sunshine!" His voice was husky and upbeat, his wolf-ears perked forward.

"Sunshine?" I laughed nervously.

"Yeah! Your hair, it's like sunshine!" He was still giving a large toothy grin, his fangs on display.

"Thank you," I didn't know what else to say.

Fennix's eyebrows arched in curiosity as he looked me over more. His nose was starting to dance as he tried to sniff subtly.

"Where did you get that shirt?" His smile went a little uneasy.

"Aleksander let me borrow it while some of my clothing is getting cleaned. I had to pick up some more clothing from my room - but everything was gross from the pipe burst."

Fennix's face grimaced a little at the mention of Aleksander, but he tried to keep it light. "Ya know, you could have asked me for help too. I would have been more than happy to help!"

"Well... in all fairness, I just ran into him when it was on my mind; I was looking for Nymph when it came up."

Fennix's body relaxed a little.

"That's good he was able to extend you some kindness." His face flinched like he had been pinched hard, "ready to eat?"

"Yeah," I went to grab my coat, "who all is joining us?" I asked as I clasped my coat closed.

"Oh, I thought it could just be us," His face morphed a little into worry, "I hope that is okay?"

My heart skipped a beat at the thought of being alone with Fennix. We were alone together briefly yesterday, but this is different. I wasn't in distress.

"That's fine," I nodded, a smile in place. Fennix led me onto the first floor and past the common room.

The common room was what would be considered a salon in any other living space, it was ornately decorated with the same color scheme as mine and Aleksander's rooms upstairs. The furniture was large and plush. The difference between a salon and this room was the ample desk and table spaces scattered about the room. Sitting on the floor with a pencil in her mouth was Nymph. She was pouring over several papers and books opened before her. Aleksander was sitting elegantly on one of the couches, engrossed in a book. His long, slender fingers fanned out across the cover.

As we passed by, Nymph looked up to us.

"Oh! Amalie, I didn't realize that you were in!" She said as she pushed a handful of rainbow braids back and away from her face. Aleksander looked up from his book, impatiently watching the exchange. He locked eyes with me briefly but shifted his gaze to Fennix and frowned.

"Yeah, we were just headed out, though." I looked at Fennix as he leaned around the doorway to look at Nymph.

"Well, I have some news for you." Nymph got up from the floor and walked over to me.

"First thing, it looks like you will be staying with us at least through the term." Nymph smiled sweetly, "The university is going to waive any charges for the room and reimburse you for any property loss, but they are going to take their time fixing the room."

"Typical," Aleksander huffed.

Fennix stiffened next to me.

"At least you get to stay here a little longer," Fennix smiled.